One of Joe Biden’s interior-design signatures? A deep, inky shade of blue, as seen in the rug (originally made for Bill Clinton) that’s now in the Oval Office.
Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Two of the great ceremonial elements of the presidency are the design and furnishing of the White House, a working office building that is also a museum and home. Although much of the interior of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is managed by curators, First Families can impart their sensibility in subtle — and sometimes dramatic — ways. Jackie Kennedy chucked the department-store reproduction furniture that had filled the house in favor of proper antiques, Ronald Reagan had a Western theme in his Oval Office that included bronze saddles, and the Obamas modernized the Oval…
